Other Views: Louisiana should end ban on civil jury trials ... Coastal partner is welcome

If there is one sign of Louisiana's failed political system, it is the willingness to do or to structure things in a way that is different and usually radically different from most, if not all, other states.

There ought to be a high barrier of argument for those wanting to keep Louisiana's unusual ban on civil jury trials. Today, a jury trial is not allowed in lawsuits seeking damages under $50,000.

Louisiana is alone among the states with such a high bar, and 36 other states have no value limit at all. If a party wishes to seek a jury trial in a dispute, other states have managed to provide that avenue, instead of a bench trial before a judge.

In 2012, the House Civil Law Committee refused to change the ban on jury trials for damages under $50,000. Rep. Ray Garofalo, R-Chalmette, is back for another round.

His bill, H.B. 917, has the backing of a statewide coalition of business interests and Gov. Bobby Jindal, who early in the session talked about "the need to create a more business-friendly environment in the legal system."

The jury trial limit seems an obscure issue, but we hope legislators will tackle it this year and pass the Garofalo bill.

The argument for today's 20-year-old limitation is that court dockets will be clogged with civil jury trials involving relatively small sums. If that is a legitimate argument, and other states don't seem to have the problem, we shall see in a couple of years if it happens in Louisiana, and the Legislature can revisit the issue.

The prospect of a jury trial would not be welcome to every business defendant, but it would, as Garofalo says, have an impact on "settlement negotiations" - presumably leading to lower settlements in simple accident cases and slip-and-fall lawsuits.

This is a collision of interests, no pun intended.

What business interests have in their favor in the argument is the need to bring Louisiana in line with other states where possible and useful.

We would not back this bill if we thought that people with genuine and serious injuries would not get a fair day in court, but the fact is that a serious injury is, in today's high-cost medical system, always going to exceed $50,000.

Louisiana should not be an outlier in this high barrier to civil jury trials.

-The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.

Coastal partner welcome

Louisiana appears to have picked up a massive and key ally in its campaign to garner attention for its vanishing coastline.

A recent statewide poll for America's Wetland Foundation found that a majority of Texans are worried about the future of their state's coast as an economic engine that relies on a healthy ecosystem. The results are similar to the same concerns expressed by Louisiana voters in a survey commissioned by the foundation.

Foundation President Val Marmillion said Texas "is poised to join Louisiana in recognizing the Gulf Coast as one of the world's great ecosystems."

He said the poll provides motivation and encouragement to Texans who have been working to raise awareness of the coast's importance, much the same way Louisiana has built support for coastal sustainability over the past decade.

"The new findings are a powerful instrument for charting a course forward for dealing with coastal issues in Texas," said Dr. Larry McKinney, director of the Harte Research Institute. "It was a bit disturbing to see confirmation that Texans see themselves as a state with a coast, rather than a coastal state. That may seem subtle but to those of us for whom this issue is paramount, the poll draws a line in the beach sand. It will be the measuring stick of our effectiveness in convincing our fellow citizens that the future of Texas rests with assuring a coast that is economically and environmentally healthy and productive."

America's Wetland Foundation senior adviser Sidney Coffee said the poll shows that voters across Texas "join Louisiana voters in seeing the link between a strong environment and the economy that depends upon it."

To that, we say, welcome aboard. The more voices to advocate for the nation's coastal regions, the better.

-American Press, Lake Charles, La.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Email this article

Other Views: Louisiana should end ban on civil jury trials ... Coastal partner is welcome

If there is one sign of Louisiana's failed political system, it is the willingness to do or to structure things in a way that is different and usually radically different from most, if not all, other